Surprisingly incoherent and boring

A Masterpiece!

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

This is a depressing exercise of that mid-sixties genre in which the Greatest Generation skewers the Swinging Sixties and its own middle age at the same time. You've seen it plenty: Mom or Pop makes the scene, does the Frug, and flirts with infidelity, embarrassing the teenage daughter, while humoring her pretentious boyfriend as he spews pseudo-modern, pseudo-intellectual psychobabble. The marriage is in some kind of mid-life jeopardy and we get lots of racy dallying with modern morality before- (surely this is not a genre-wide spoiler!)- reaffirming traditional values in a final clinch. Actually, some of these are kind of fun, and they're nearly always fun to look at and listen to.Not this one.The comic situation here takes way too long to develop, spends a great deal of that time telling you exactly what's going to happen before it happens, and isn't even a little bit funny or believable. Whatever comic opportunities are there just aren't delivered upon, and the pacing is excruciating. The characters are such loose sketches that we aren't tempted to buy them either. Perhaps worst of all, the comic talents of a great cast are wasted, and not just the principles- while Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and a very game Deborah Kerr are striking out, great talent like Reta Shaw, Kathleen Freeman, John McGiver, and Parley Baer are left to ride the bench in a film that's thirty minutes too long.The Scottish mother-in-law and Cesar Romero's shyster, both broadly stereotyped, bring the only really lively support, and it's mostly just bellowing and posturing.The only redemption here, if any, is Dean Martin's bachelor pad, a wonderful set on which nothing really happens. And the color is pretty nice and lively for the most part, as per the period. And brunette Nancy Sinatra gives it her best and is always fun to watch. She has great chemistry with her dad and Dean.To cleanse your soul of this, pull out Preston Sturges' immortal "The Palm Beach Story" and see how a marriage comedy should move and breathe.

Complications arise after an unhappily married couple are "accidentally" divorced whilst on their second honeymoon in this amiable comedy with echoes of Hitchcock's 'Mr. & Mrs. Smith'. The film takes quite a while to build up to the "accident" and the resulting humour is hit and miss, but a perfectly cast Deborah Kerr and Frank Sinatra keep the film afloat. Both were well past 40 at the time and they capture two complete flip-sides well; Sinatra has become complacent, all too settled into life, whereas a high-strung Kerr is in the midst of a midlife crisis, worried by the very certainties that Sinatra finds comfort in. The supporting characters are not terribly interesting; as his best friend, Dean Martin is too much the polar opposite of Sinatra and while John McGiver, Cesar Romero and Hermione Baddeley have their good bits, they never register strongly. Martin's bachelor pad is something else though, and -- alongside the likes of 'Under the Yum Yum Tree' -- it is a testament to the imaginativeness of early '60s interior decoration with jutting stone walls, several indoor plants and a fireplace in the centre of the living room. The nightclub sets are nifty too. Of course, excellent sets alone are not reason enough to watch a motion picture, but they are certainly an extra delight in this big screen showcase for Kerr's comedic talents. Her very proper and refined British vocal mannerisms render her indignation all the more amusing, and imperfect as the film may well be, it certainly offers an acute look at a middle aged couple both learning to reevaluate what they want in life.

"Fuddy-duddy" Frank Sinatra (as Dan Edwards) runs an advertising agency, with "drinking man" Dean Martin (as Ernie Brewer) assisting. Mr. Sinatra thinks housewife Deborah Kerr (as Valerie) is happily married, but she wants a divorce "on the grounds of boredom." Sinatra thinks, "I don't have to be romantic." Ms. Kerr wonders what life would be like if she married Mr. Martin, who romances a succession of busty secretaries. Through a series of misunderstandings, Kerr gets her wish…Sinatra, Kerr, and Martin do not live up to the marquee value of their names. At least, Kerr seems to be alert. Teenage daughter Nancy Sinatra (as Tracy) and Honda hopping son Michael Petit (as David) are much better than the big stars. Boyfriend Tony Bill (Jim Blake) and an able supporting cast help… a little. Strangely enough, Sinatra and Martin sing no songs; instead, their "Reprise" label is represented by Trini Lopez doing "Sinner Man", a minor hit after the film's original release.**** Marriage on the Rocks (9/16/65) Jack Donohue ~ Frank Sinatra, Deborah Kerr, Dean Martin, Nancy Sinatra

Tedious Frank Sinatra and Deborah Kerr film. I think they made up for the fact that they had no scenes together 12 years before in "From Here to Eternity."Despite a great cast, the film sags as Frank Sinatra plays a family man who is boring Val (his wife Deborah) after 19 years of marriage. He has a swinging business partner Dean Martin, who was rejected by Val when she married Dan (Sinatra) instead.The picture becomes nonsensical when the couple go to Mexico for a second honeymoon, quarrel and wind up divorced by the unscrupulous Cesar Romero. The laughs begin when the two immediately decide to retie the knot, but when Dan can't join Val, Dino flies into Mexico instead only to wed Val by a Spanish speaking priest instead.The film then deals with the change of roles brought on by this marriage as it affects all 3 characters. You see, Val is hesitant in signing the divorce papers with Dino so that she can remarry Dan.Hermione Baddeley steals the show as Val's Irish Rose of a mother. Nancy Sinatra appears in the worthless role of the daughter of Dan and Val, who is looking to spread her wings with a room-mate and eventually marry nerd psychiatrist Tony Bill. Bill, who was so good as Sinatra's kid brother in "Come Blow Your Horn," has little to do here.The film is good for a couple of laughs but is highly predictable. Also, Kerr is just too British to assume the role of Val.